Save me from myself
by MyBodyIsBrokenYoursIsBent
Summary: A one-nigh stand with Cedric Diggory has consequences that Hermione didn't expect. She is forced to flee the country and move to the US but she now comes back and faces her once-friends. AU. Cedric never died. Promise it'll be better than the summary.
1. Prologue

**Save me from myself**

**PROLOGUE**

All she felt was fire. Scorching, hot, insatiable. Fire. All she waited for was the explosion, the final combustion, the release. Hot, long fingers were caresing her silky thights and a husky yet velvety voice was murmuring sweet nothings into her ear. The there was blank. She had exploded and so had he. They lay tangled - a beautiful mess of limbs - until sleep overtook them.

**************************************

When she woke up, the first thing she did was feel around her, trying to grasp him, but all she found was silky sheets - HIS silky sheets - and a folded piece of parchment. She lifted it up with trembling hands and began reading.

_Granger,_

_This shouldn't have happened. Please try to forget it. Forgive me for pressuring you._

_Diggory_

She read the last sentence over and over, until it sunk in, until his neat and elegant scrawl was as imprinted to her brain as his feathery yet exciting caresses. "Pressuring you". What pressure?! She'd do it again and again and again. Until the end of time. Night and day. Even without his approval... because that was the only way _they_would EVER do it again: raping him. She just wasn't delusional enough to believe that if it weren't for the situation at hand _**Cedric Diggory**_ would throw her, _**Hermione Granger **_a second glance. Much less have sex with her. It's not that they didn't interact at all. It wasn't even the fact that they didn't talk. _Au contraire_, they developed a friendship during the war and even before that, with him always sticking to Harry during the boy's 5th year and sometimes teaching at the DA meetings. It's just that it wasn't possible for Adonis himself to end up with a plain, boring girl. Because that was exactly what she was compared to him. A silly little girl. Of course, she had seen her share of terrible things and was part of a war that forced her to grow up too fast but she was still so... innocent in some matters... And he was a man. A true, desirable man. The kind of man that ended up with a brilliant career and a beautiful wife - most probably Cho Chang.

And she will remain with Ron because that is what everyone expects them to do so. Everyone wants to see them married and with children. Everyone _else_...


	2. Ch 1 You always find your way back home

**READ! IMPORTANT! Well, first of all you should know when the action of this story starts to unfold. Chapter 1 is set in 2005, April to be more precise. Hermione is 25, going on 26 (born September 1979) and Cedric is 27, going on 28 (born September 1977). Melanie (you'll find out who she is if you keep reading) is 5 years old (born December 1999). Well, now that that's out of the way, here comes the story!**

**Chapter #1**

**~You always find your way back home~**

Walking on the streets of Diagon Alley she just couldn't believe how much time had changed this place. It suddenly seemed so big... Much bigger than the first time she saw it, when she had been an impressionable 11-year-old girl. Much bigger than 7 years ago, when she had come here right after the war and submitted her application at St Mungo's. That plan, along with any other she had made after the war, had gone to hell... But no matter how much she tried she just couldn't bring herself to fully regret that night, nor her decision to flee the country. Not when it lead her to the most beautiful years of her life...

She winced remembering how abruptly they had been dulled - if not completely ended. She tried to distract herself by reading the colourful advertisements that invited parents and children to the new and improved Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Sighing and reminding herself she still had a full hour ahead of her she willed her feet to guide her to the parlour. The fact that she longed for the false impression of happiness chocolate provided must have been an aditional propulsion because she found herself in front of the parlour in less than 5 minutes.

Climbing the few stairs that lead to the actual terrace, she hear a heart-wrenching sob. After giving the tables a once-over Hermione discovered the source of the noise: a sweet girl that was trying to convince a waiter (that was new for Florean's!) that her "daddy" would pay for the ice cream. Smiling to herself as she saw the distressed look of the man, Hermione made her way towards him and the girl.

"Don't worry, I'll pay. Just give her whatever she wants." she found herself saying. The waiter didn't have to be told twice because he litteraly ran off as fast as he could, obviously pleased by the fact he could get away from the crying girl. As if on cue, the little witch stopped crying and the perfect little grin that appeared on her face made Hermione consider whether she had been taking any acting lessons.

"Thank you for that. That waiter was being so obnoxious and just wouldn't let me have my ice cream so I had to take out the heavy arsenal. But you don't have to pay for it, daddy will be here shortly and he'll do it. By the way, my name is Melanie. What's yours?"

All of this had been said so quickly Hermione couldn't help but smile when answering:

"My name is Hermione. Nice to meet you Melanie. Care to join me at my table?"

"Oh. I'd love that. Come on! I want that table!" she said pointing at a table with 3 chairs and grabbing Hermione's hand.

Once they were seated Hermione took the oportunity to really look at the girl: she wasn't very tall, looked about 5, maybe 6, she had wavy, honey-blond hair that fell to her waist and that was currently adorned with a lovely, midnight blue headband and she was dressed very fashionably, with a matching Oxford shirt to her periwinkle blue skirt, plus matching Mary Janes. The thing that really got her mesmerized weren't her clothes, not even her perfect hair. No, it was her eyes. Melanie had the most stunning, captivating and lovely steel-grey eyes she had seen since..

"Daddy! Over here!" Hermione turned around to look at the man Melanie was calling for and who she saw made her jaw drop. Litteraly. Melanie's father was none other than Cedric Diggory!

**This chapter was supposed to be about 10 times longer than this and not end right there but I though I should take it slow at the beggining, don't bore readers with long chapters. PLEASE review and let me know whether I should keep the chapters as short as this one or if it is OK for me to post longer chapters. I also have the next one ready so if you want me to publish it you should submit at least 3 reviews. **


	3. Ch 2 Friendly encounters

**FORGIVE ME, PLEASE! I MUST _BEG _for your forgiveness because I didn't keep my word and I didn't upload the next chapter as soon as I got the reviews I asked for but my laptop crashed and I just got it fixed and I had to rewrite the whole chpater.**

**_Chapter_ #2**

**Friendly encounters**

Cedric was by their table in just a few, long, feline strides and scoped Melanie in his arms reprimanding her for her departure:

"Don't ever do that again! And how did you even manage to get away from Alice?"

"Who's Alice?" Melanie asked, trying to avoid answering his question.

"The secretary you were supposed to stay with until I finished talking to Alec."

"Oh. You mean the brunette one? The one with..."

"Mel!" Cedric was clearly not keen on playing along like he usually did.

"What? I was just trying to figure out who she was. There are just so many secretaries! And they are all so stupid! And mean! She didn't want to go buy me an ice cream! Said I was a spoiled brat to think that she is my servant!"

"Melanie, how did you manage to get away?" Cedric's voice was softening slightly, taking its usual velvety texture.

"I just told her I wanted to go to the bathroom. She didn't even look where I was heading to so it was pretty simple. Nothing happened to me, see? Please, don't be mad, daddy!" And how could he ever manage that when his little angel had the most adorable pout on her pretty lips?

"It's fine, darling." He then kissed her forehead and put her down, turning towards Hermione to apologize for the inconvenience.

"Thank you so much for... GRANGER?! What are you doing here? I could have sworn you died!" he joked trying to conceal the huge grin that spread over her face. Any other questions he might have had were interrupted by the arrival of the waiter with Melanie's order.

"Here you go, young lady. Exactly what you ordered. Anything for you, miss?"

Cedric just couldn't miss the flirty smile that came with the question directed at Hermione and asked himself whether the boy honestly thought he had a chance with her since he was obviously at least 6 years younger that Granger was, even though she didn't look that much older. He wondered briefly if Ron's claims that she ran away with another man were true?

"A chocolate ice cream for me, please." And _that _was a wake up call for Diggory.

"Make that two."

"Still have a sweet tooth, don't you Diggory?" Hermione asked after the waiter had left. Cedric took a seat next to her and Melanie before answering:

"What can I say? Some things never change... Others do."

"You married Cho." That wasn't a question. It was a statement, almost an accusation and Cedric didn't have enough time to compose himself before Melanie piped in:

"You know mom? How do you know her? And how do you know dad?"

"We went to school together. Your mother was one year above me, Cedric two years above me." That left Melanie thinking for about 3 seconds before asking:

"So, you know Harry? And Ron?" Hermione winced a bit at the mention of her former friends' names, but enough to attract Cedric's attention.

"Yes, I know them." she finally answered. "We were all Gryffindors and in the same year. Before you ask, I also know Ginny, Ron's sister."

"They used to be best friends. Granger, Harry and Ron. The whole school knew them as the 'Golden Trio'. That's why everyone calls Harry and Ron the 'Golden Duo' now. Because Granger left."

"Aha..." Melanie made a small pause, thinking of something and then frowned. "Why do you call her Granger, daddy? Your name is Hermione, isn't it" she asked, turning a bit towards the young woman.

"It's just a habit, muffin. I think her name is too long."

"But it's so pretty!" she argued.

"Don't worry, Melanie. I'm used to it. Your father and I always argued about calling each other by our first names. I refused to call him Cedric while he kept calling me Granger."

"And then I said Hermione was 3 syllables, Granger was 2. Diggory was 3 syllables, Cedric was 2. Ced is one." He added the last part with his signature charming smile.

"Daddy! I just remembered something! Wasn't Hermione the name of Helen's daughter? The one that started the Trojan war? The really beautiful one?"

"Yes, it was. My mother's name was Helen, she tought it'd be funny to name me Hermione." the woman answered instead of Cedric.

"Really?" Melanies' eyes almost popped out of her head when she heard this. " That is sooo awesome! No wonder you're so beautiful! You are, after all, the daughter of a woman who started a war! Could I ever meet you mother, please? I bet she's really pretty!"

"Let her breath! Eat your ice cream before it melts away!" The effect of Cedric's stern voice was a bit marred by his crooked grin but effective nonetheless since Melanie started eating immediately. As if on cue, the waiter appeared with Hermione and Cedric's ice creams.

After receiving her ice cream, Hermione started eating it eagerly, glad that the conversation hadn't revolved around her until that moment and hoping it would remain that way, but to her chagrin Cedric hadn't changed much over the years -personality wise- and didn't skip the opportunity to question her of her whereabouts.

"So... where have you been all this time?"

"Um.. around..."

"And that means?"

"New York City. In other words, the US."

"You've been in the US all these years? Where exactly did you live? A hole? Harry searched for you everywhere and couldn't find a trace! It was as if you had disappeared. What did you do for a living for goodness' sake? You sure as hell weren't an Auror or a Healer because he searched every record of employed Aurors and Healers."

"What makes you think I was either an Auror or a Healer?"

"Because you had the qualification to be an Auror and if you would have decided to drop that job you would have become a Healer because that is your dream."

"Was my dream. And I was an Architect all this time. Magical Architect, of course."

"I thought you didn't like drawing?"

Hermione just shrugged and said:

"It was better since I had to work from home." Her attention was then diverted to figure that was approaching their table, a figure that Cedric couldn't see because he had his back towards it. "Your wife's coming." she announced as flatly as she could.

"Mum! Look who I met! Daddy's old school friend!"

And there were simply not enough words to describe Cho's expression when she laid eyes upon Hermione, but recognition, shock, fear and anger were a good start.

"Granger.... It's... nice to see you... alive... and breathing..." She then turned towards Cedric and announced. "If you still want to meet my friend I suggest you hurry up or he'll leave _and _you forgot your mobile phone. Again. Are you sure you're not avoiding me?"

"I forgot all about it. I am soooo sorry Hermione but I really have to go. Could we please meet tomorrow night for dinner? At the French restaurant that just opened? Please?"

And she just couldn't help but agree after he gave her _that _look, the one that made all the girls melt back in their school days and that seemed to have amplified its effect over the years because she could feel her knees weaken.

**So, love it? Hate it? No matter how you feel about it, please review! I need advice and feedback because this is the first fan-fiction I've ever written and the first story of this lenght I ever attempted to write (not to mention I'm Romanian so I need to know if you feel like my English isn't good enough for me to try writing stories in it)**


End file.
